Victim identified as young South Australian surfer Khai Cowley

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Friends are paying tribute to a 15-year-old surfer who was killed by a shark on South Australia's Yorke Peninsula. The body of Khai Cowley was recovered from the water at ethel beach yesterday about 300 kilometres from Adelaide.

Transcript

00:00 We're at the scene of a fatal shark attack that occurred here at Innes National Park

00:07 on the York Peninsula in South Australia.

00:10 Kai Cowley, a 15-year-old boy from Adelaide, was killed while he was surfing on this surf

00:15 break.

00:16 It's called Ethel's Ledge.

00:18 It's known as a really challenging surf break and only really experienced surfers do go

00:23 out to this break.

00:25 We've seen an influx of people visit the beach here today.

00:29 A few of Kai's friends have come down to pay tribute.

00:33 They've laid flowers.

00:34 I've spoken to them.

00:36 They were too visibly upset to speak on camera.

00:39 We've also heard tributes from Surfing South Australia, which described Kai as a dearly

00:44 loved member of the surfing community.

00:47 It's pretty hard to home when we've known so many close people that's actually happened

00:51 to like this year.

00:53 I don't know what to make of it.

00:56 I'm trying to figure out.

00:57 I was rattled last night.

00:58 I don't know.

00:59 It's kind of, it's too close to home really.

01:01 It wasn't personally affecting me, but it's just one of those things that you don't want

01:05 to go in the water now.

01:06 This morning, I've come down to pay my respects to the young lad.

01:10 If you can appreciate, he obviously, his love of surfing was such that he was out there

01:16 yesterday.

01:17 So it was pretty heavy stuff.

01:18 But yeah, it's not something you're going to get over in a hurry.

01:22 Like this will, as I say, there will be a drop in numbers going in the ocean.

01:27 It's just a fact of life.

01:28 I couldn't imagine what it would be like for the family.

01:31 It's just such a tragic story.

01:34 So yeah, really feel for the family, especially after Christmas.

01:38 It's terrible.

01:39 Kai's auntie has set up a GoFundMe page as well to help his family with funeral costs.

01:45 I've spoken to a few surfers who have said they will keep out of the water today, but

01:50 they don't want this to deter young people from enjoying surfing.

01:55 They say it's a very rare incident to have occurred here on the York Peninsula.

01:59 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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